Maintenance scheduling

ABSTRACT

Examples describe maintenance scheduling of printhead in an image forming device by monitoring image data processed by an image forming device, determining that the image data processed by the image forming device comprises color image data, and generating a firing signal based on a mode of the image forming device.

BACKGROUND

Image forming devices and systems may implement multiple modes ofoperation based on detected circumstances or user settings. For example,an image forming device may be operable in different modes to conservepower, resources, or change overall performance based on user settingsor performance constraints.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating example components of imageforming systems as described herein.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example method to schedulemaintenance activities for an image forming device as described herein.

FIG. 3 is an example timing diagram of scheduled maintenance activitiesas described herein.

FIG. 4 is an example user interface as may be implemented by devices andsystems as described herein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating example components of imageforming systems as described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To maintain quality in some image forming devices, such as inkjetprinters, the image forming devices may regularly fire printing fluidfrom nozzles, or other printing fluid ejectors, when the printhead isnot in a capped state. During some print jobs, processing the print jobis sufficient to maintain nozzle health. For example, printing fluidejected during printing is sufficient when each nozzle is firingprinting fluid at regular intervals. Occasionally maintenance printingfluid may be ejected from nozzles that are not activated within aspecific time while out of a capped state to prevent nozzles drying out.The maintenance printing fluid may be ejected into a portion of theimage forming device rather than on a print media and may therefore beconsidered waste when viewing the overall efficiency of an image formingdevice. For example, maintenance printing fluid can be ejected intoservice reservoirs where the printing fluid is no longer usable forprinting and therefore increases cost of printing.

In general, maintenance printing fluid can be reduced at the expense ofprint quality. For example, the reduction in ejection of maintenanceprinting fluid may cause temporary clogs in printhead nozzles. This canresult in intermittent bands where white bands or other print defectsare visible in a printed image. Depending on performance requested by auser of an image forming device, a user's experience with the device maybe better with higher performance printing based on higher maintenanceprinting fluid usage or based on lower printing fluid usage but withpotential defects based on lower maintenance printing fluid usage.

Systems and methods disclosed herein cover methods to reduce maintenanceprinting fluid in print modes that indicate a user preference forefficiency over print quality performance and to increase maintenanceprinting fluid in print modes that indicate a user preference for printquality performance over efficiency. Typically, cyan, magenta, andyellow printing agents or colorants are more expensive than similaramounts of black printing agents or colorants. Depending on theapplication or the industry, the disparity can lead to a substantiallygreater expense for color printing in color versus black and whiteprinting. Some users may attempt to address this additional expense byprinting documents in greyscale, or black and white mode, whileselectively printing documents in full color mode. Often, black andwhite mode versions of color documents lack significant information ordistinctions that users may find valuable. Other users may attempt toaddress the additional expense by printing color documents in a depletedcolor mode with depleted colors that compromise print quality.

In some examples, high quality print modes may include modes with fullcolor printing by an image forming device. For example, an image formingdevice may provide a normal operation where colors and black printingfluid are printed at a standard rate. A higher performance mode mayprovide high quality printing based on increasing saturation or densityof various colors or black portions. Furthermore, a depletion mode mayprovide printing options at a reduced quality by reducing the amount ofcolor printing fluid ejected, reducing the amount of black printingfluid ejected, or reducing both to create a balanced but lower qualityimage that may also print at higher speeds. While described herein asgenerally providing three print modes, various examples may provideimage forming device with fewer or additional print modes. For example,the print modes may be selected by a user on a sliding scale based onuser preference. In addition, while color printing fluid depletion mayprovide additional cost savings compared to black printing fluiddepletion, examples described herein may be enabled on a mono-chromeprinter or other image forming devices operating in modes with variouscombinations of color and black printing fluid provided.

To provide improved maintenance printing fluid utilization in variousprint modes, systems and methods described herein may schedule reducedmaintenance printing fluid scheduling in depletion modes of an imageforming device. In example depletion modes, as further described below,these high efficiency print modes may deplete black printing fluid by upto 20% and color printing fluid by up to 90% in comparison to standardprint modes. This reduces the cost of color deposition on print mediawhile extending the yield of a set amount of supplies. Without reducingmaintenance printing fluid in depletion print modes, the ratio ofmaintenance printing fluid to printing fluid on the print mediaincreases thereby increasing the percentage of printing fluid that isgenerated during maintenance printing fluid deposition. Reducingmaintenance printing fluid further reduces the cost of printing whilealso extending supply yield. Furthermore, service components that acceptmaintenance printing fluid also receive less maintenance printing fluidfor a same amount of printing which extends the life of such as servicecomponents.

Due to the printing fluid reduction, in depleted modes of operation, animage forming device may create lower contrast, optical density orsaturation of colors on print media. Accordingly, a formed image withmore frequent print defects may generate harder to detect white bands orother defects due to the reduced contrast on the formed image.Furthermore, to limit the visibility of such defects, the maintenancescheduling described herein may limit maintenance printing fluidreduction for dark colors such as black while significantly reducingmaintenance printing fluid for light colors such as cyan, magenta andyellow. Therefore, the quality of black printing fluid deposition mayremain at a higher quality and further reduce contrast for potentialdefects from color printing fluid deposition. This also may improveoverall cost savings as cyan, magenta, and yellow maintenance printingfluid may be more expensive than black printing fluid so reducing wasteprinting fluid provides further benefit to a user. Therefore, thereduction of maintenance printing fluid does not greatly reducereliability of the printhead, but instead is designed to improve printcost and increase supply yield. In some examples, a user may be enabledto adjust the likelihood of defects by setting a maintenance printingfluid setting in different print modes.

In some examples, in order to operate in heavily depleted print modes,an image forming device may adjust the color space provided in imagedata to the print device to a color space that utilizes a reduced amountof printing fluid. A color space as used herein describes colors used byan image forming device numerically. Example color spaces can includesubtractive color space, which can include a type ofcyan-magenta-yellow-key (black) (CMYK) color space, while others mayemploy a type of additive color space, which can include a type ofred-green-blue (RGB) color space. For example, a color represented in anRGB color space has a red value, a green value, and a blue value, and acolor represented in a OMYK color space has a cyan value, a magentavalue, a yellow value, and a key value, that combine numerically torepresent the color. A color gamut for a device is a property of thedevice that includes the range of color (and density/tonal values) thatthe device can produce as represented by a color space. A color in theadditive color space can be represented via a red component, a greencomponent, and a blue component, and a color in the subtractive colorspace can be represented via a cyan component, magenta component, ayellow component, and a black component. Furthermore, as used in thisdisclosure, a process color component includes the cyan, magenta, andyellow components in the subtractive color space and does not includethe black component in the subtractive color space.

In order to reduce the amount of color printing fluid used in adepletion mode of a printer, the amount of color printing fluid may besignificantly decreased, for example by up to 90%. The amount of blackprinting fluid may also be reduced by a lower amount, for example by upto 20%, in order to maintain visibility, vibrancy, and text readabilityof a formed image while reducing the printing fluid due to improvedoptical density. Depending on the example and implementation, the colorand black printing fluid may be reduced by different amounts. Forexample, the color printing fluid may be reduced by 70%, 80-95%, 70-90%or another amount. Furthermore, these amounts may vary based on theimage data and settings describing the print quality expected. Thereduction may be based on device dependent characteristics that changethe amount of device specific printing fluid that affects the quality ofthe formed image.

Image forming devices as used herein may include printers, copiers, faxmachines, multifunction devices including additional scanning, copying,and finishing functions, all-in-one devices, pad printers to printimages on three dimensional objects, and three-dimensional printers(additive manufacturing devices) may employ color management systemsincluding depletion modes, standard modes, and high-quality modes asdescribed herein. Furthermore, print media may be used herein todescribe plain paper or other suitable media or objects such asinflexible media, textiles, bulk objects, boxes, powdered buildmaterials (for forming three-dimensional articles), or other suitablesubstrates. Printing fluids, including printing agents and colorants,may include ink, fusing agents, detailing agents, or other materialsthat may be applied to a substrate with a printhead that includes anozzle that utilizes a maintenance printing fluid scheduling system toprovide consistent operation of a printhead. For example, thermal inkjetprintheads, piezo inkjet printheads, or other printheads that ejectprinting fluids to a print media may be operated according to examplesystems and methods as described herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates example components of an image forming device toprovide maintenance printing fluid control and scheduling duringoperation of the image forming device in various print modes. The imageforming device includes a maintenance system 100 that uses image data110 to control aspects of a print engine 120. The maintenance system mayinclude an image data monitor 102, a firing signal generator 104, and anejection monitor 106.

The image data 110 may include image data stored on an image formingdevice or image data received at an image forming device. In someexamples, the image data 110 may include image data after it has beenprocessed by the image forming device to generate a set of firinginstructions for print engine 120 that determines which nozzles will beactuated to form an image on an image forming device 120. In variousexamples, the image data 110 as monitored by the maintenance system 100may include data indicating whether there is color to be printed on anupcoming portion of a print job or whether the color nozzles of aprinthead are to be actuated to eject printing fluid onto print media.In addition, in some examples, the image data 110 as monitored by themaintenance system 100 may include data regarding the size of the mediathat is to be printed. Accordingly, the maintenance system 100 mayfurther determine reactive maintenance printing fluid ejection based onlack of usage for portions of a print bar that are not activated duringa print job. For example, in an example system with a print barperpendicular to a paper path of print media, only certain nozzles maybe activated during a print job and others may be unused. Accordingly,the maintenance printing fluid scheduling may be defined for nozzlesoutside the print area and inside the print area separately based onpreventative or reactive ejections as described herein based on theirusage.

The maintenance system 100 includes an image data monitor 102 to monitorthe image data 110 so as to determine the instructions that are beingsent to the print engine 120. For example, the image data monitor 102may monitor to determine if one or more color nozzles are to beactivated by the print engine 120 with firing instructions. If one ormore color nozzles are to be actuated, that is an indication that theprinthead will be uncapped for at least a portion of time, which furtherindicates that there is an opportunity that nozzles of the colorprinting fluid ejectors may dry out and later generate a print error.The image data monitor 102 may provide an indication to firing signalgenerator 104 that one or more printheads will be uncapped and todetermine whether maintenance printing fluid should be ejected.

The firing signal generator 104, after receiving an indication fromimage data monitor 102 regarding the image data 110 provided to printengine 120, may determine whether to eject maintenance printing fluid toreduce the likelihood of defects in forming an image on a print medium.For example, the firing signal generator 104 may use a current mode ofthe image forming device to determine an appropriate scheduling formaintenance printing fluid. FIG. 3 is an example timing diagram ofscheduled maintenance activities as described herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a timing diagram 300 of the generation of maintenanceprinting fluid firing signals for color printheads. In the example,firing determination are shown as a binary decision of whether to firemaintenance printing fluid for color printheads based on the image data110 monitored by image data monitor 102. The timing diagram shows themaintenance printing fluid scheduling for three print modes: ahigh-quality mode, a standard mode, and a depletion mode. As shown aftera job is received by the image forming device, in the high-quality modeand the standard mode, preventative service may be scheduled to ensurethe nozzles are ready to print prior to the print start time. In thestandard mode, the service interval may be shorter than in thehigh-quality mode providing a printing fluid reduction compared to thehigh-quality mode. As the color nozzles perform preventative maintenanceat this time, the black nozzles may also eject maintenance printingfluid.

In the depletion mode the nozzles of the printing fluid ejectors may noteject preventative maintenance prior to the print start time. Although atiming diagram of black maintenance printing fluid scheduling is notshown, preventative maintenance printing fluid may be ejected in asimilar manner as shown for the standard or high-quality modes. Forexample, as discussed herein, the black printing fluid may be reducedless than the color printing fluid in the depletion mode and may also beassumed to be used in each print job to set a level of optical density.

As shown in the timing diagram 300, a reactive service interval is setin the depletion mode after there is a detection of color after theprint start time. In some examples, the reactive service interval in thedepletion mode may be of a shorter duration than the preventative modesthat are used during the preventative maintenance printing fluidejections of the standard and high-quality modes. Accordingly, in thedepletion mode, there may be waste savings from both the preventativefiring of maintenance printing fluid as well as the amount ofmaintenance printing fluid fired. As discussed, this may result in lowseverity, low detectability, or temporary print defects, but providemore efficient printing.

Although not shown in the timing diagram 300, as image data iscontinually printed after print start, an ejection monitor 106 maymonitor the image data 110 and resulting firing of printing fluid fromnozzles by print engine 120 to determine subsequent maintenance printingfluid firing. Referring back to FIG. 1 the ejection monitor 106 maycontinue to monitor firing performed by the printheads to determinewhether or not to fire additional maintenance printing fluid as theprint job is processed. The determination may be based on the frequencyof firing signals to nozzles by the print engine 120 as well as adetermined print mode. For example, reactive scheduling of maintenanceprinting fluid may be performed more often in a high-quality print modethan a standard print mode and more often in a standard print mode thana depletion print mode. Furthermore, the amount of maintenance printingfluid may also be higher in the high-quality print mode than a standardprint mode and higher in the standard print mode than a depletion printmode. The ejection monitor 106 may provide the information to the firingsignal generator 104 for the firing signal generator 104 to generatemaintenance printing fluid firing signals to the print engine 120.

The print engine 120 may use the image data 110 to generate firingsignals to actuate particular nozzles to generate an image on a printmedium. The print engine 120 also receives firing signals frommaintenance system 100 (as generated by firing signal generator 104)indicating that maintenance printing fluid should be ejected from one ormore printheads. For example, the firing signals may indicate that theprint engine 120 should fire maintenance printing fluid from blackprinting fluid nozzles, color printing fluid nozzles, or each of theblack printing fluid and color printing fluid nozzles.

The components of an image forming device shown in FIG. 1 are a subsetof components of a complete image forming device. In various examplesthe image forming device may include media handling components, mediastorage components, scanning components, output trays, or additionalcomponents to complete an image forming device. In some examples, thecomponents shown may be incorporated into larger systems, such asthree-dimensional printing systems, solid media (e.g., corrugatedcardboard or the like), or other media, that utilize printing fluidejection including maintenance printing fluid ejection.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram 200 illustrating an example method to schedulefiring of maintenance printing for an image forming device as describedherein. For example, the flow diagram may be performed by the componentsof an image forming device as described with reference to FIG. 1. Invarious examples, the processes described in reference to flow diagram200 may be performed in a different order or the method may includefewer or additional blocks than are shown in FIG. 2.

Beginning in block 202, an image forming device monitors image dataprocessed by the image forming device. For example, the image data mayinclude firing commands for a printhead of the image forming device. Insome examples, the image data may include image data for color printingaspects and black printing aspects. The image data may include firinginstructions to be used by a print engine to form an image by ejectingprinting on a print medium. In some examples, the monitoring of imagedata is performed in response to a determination that the image formingdevice is operating in a particular mode. For example, a maintenancesystem of the image forming device may monitor the image data in adepletion mode to determine maintenance ejection scheduling differentlythan when in a high-quality, standard, or other mode of operation.

In block 204 the image forming device determines activation of nozzlesof printing fluid ejectors based on the monitored image data. Forexample, the image data may include separate streams for black imagedata and color image data. For example, the image forming device maymonitor a stream of image data for an indication of an instruction tofire a nozzle of a color printing fluid ejector. In some examples, theprint jobs may be monitored prior to the start of printing to determineif there will be firing of color nozzles during a page of media or otherinterval of print time. For example, the image data may be monitored atthe beginning of a maintenance ejection of a black printhead todetermine whether to also perform maintenance ejection of a colorprinthead. Therefore, based on the monitored image data, the imageforming device may determine which nozzles to alter a maintenanceschedule for to reduce print defects without reactively activatingnozzles that will not be utilized.

If the color image data stream, or a color component of a single imagedata stream, indicates color is included in the image data, the imageforming device may continue in block 206 to alter a maintenance firingsignal based on a mode of the image forming device. For example, thecolor nozzles may have been capped and the image forming device maydetermine that maintenance printing fluid should be ejected to ensureproper operation of the nozzles and reduce potential print defectsduring formation of an image. In some examples, the amount ofmaintenance printing fluid to eject may be based on an operating mode.For example, in a depletion mode, less maintenance printing fluid may beejected than in other modes. In some examples, the amount of maintenanceprinting fluid may be determined based on a user selection of printquality (which may be a continuous value) and tolerance of printdefects.

FIG. 4 is an example user interface 400 as may be implemented by animage forming device as described herein. For example, the userinterface may be on a surface of an image forming device as describedabove with reference to FIG. 1, as part of a mobile application on auser device that communicates settings or preferences of one or moreusers to configure a printing device, as part of an application on abrowser or computing device that offers configuration parameters toadministrators or user, or as part of another interface that a user caninteract with.

The user interface 400 includes a slider 410 that a user can interactwith using a selector 420. In the example shown, the slider 410 includesmultiple regions 412, 414, and 416. In various examples, the slider 410may include no separate regions, fewer regions, or additional regions.Accordingly, the regions are shown in the user interface 400 as apotential example implementation of an additional feature of thedisclosed systems and methods. Based on received user input, the imageforming device may update an operating mode or a maintenance printingfluid mode.

In some examples, the reduced quality region 412 indicates a depletionmode or an indication by the user that some noticeable defects caused bya lower rate of maintenance printing fluid ejection may be acceptable tothe user. In some examples, the reduced quality region 412 may beintended as a warning to a user that visible defect may occur due tosignificant periods between spitting of maintenance printing fluid.However, the user may select performance in this region for faster moreefficient performance The standard performance region 414 may indicateoperation in a normal mode which should not have print defects but maynot have maximum contrast or color density. The optimized quality region416 may indicate the quality is important for the current or upcomingprint jobs. The user may change the level of maintenance printing fluidthat is used by moving a selector 420. For example, by moving theselector 420 to the left, the image forming device may eject lessmaintenance printing fluid during operation with the tradeoff of havinghigher risk of print defects. By moving the selector 420 to the right,the image forming device may eject more maintenance printing fluidduring operation to achieve fewer defects and higher print quality.

In some examples, the slider 410 may control the amount of maintenanceprinting fluid that is ejected, but may not have an affect on theoperating mode of the image forming device. For example, the imageforming device may provide the slider 410 with a range that conforms toquality parameters corresponding to a selected operating mode. In someexamples, the amount of maintenance printing fluid ejected may bedetermined by a selected operating mode and the slider 410 may determinethe operating mode. Notably the selection of the operating mode may bediscrete intervals, a set of selections, or may be on a continuousscale.

The user interface 400 is intended as an example of many possible userinterfaces. Additional examples may include control wheels, numericalinputs, radio button selections, or other user interface elements.Furthermore, additional user interfaces may offer additional controlover the frequency or amount of maintenance printing fluid that is usedor may enable a user to set the amount to reduce automatically inresponse to certain events, such as data received with a print job,current status of the image forming device (e.g., supply levels orservice component capacity), or other personalization of the imageforming device operation.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example maintenance system 500of an image forming device as described herein. Maintenance system 500may include at least one computing device that is capable ofcommunicating with at least one remote system. In the example of FIG. 5,maintenance system 500 includes a processor 510 and a memory 520.Although the following descriptions refer to a single processor and asingle computer-readable medium, the descriptions may also apply to asystem with multiple processors and computer-readable mediums. In suchexamples, the instructions may be distributed (e.g., stored) acrossmultiple computer-readable mediums and the instructions may bedistributed (e.g., executed by) across multiple processors.

Processor 510 may be a central processing unit (CPUs), a microprocessor,and/or other hardware devices suitable for retrieval and execution ofinstructions stored in memory 520. In the example system 500, processor510 may receive, determine, and send monitoring instructions 522 andfiring signal instructions 524 to generate maintenance scheduling for animage forming device. As an alternative or in addition to retrieving andexecuting instructions, processor 510 may include an electronic circuitcomprising a number of electronic components for performing thefunctionality of an instruction in memory 520. With respect to theexecutable instruction representations (e.g., boxes) described and shownherein, it should be understood that part or all of the executableinstructions and/or electronic circuits included within a particular boxand/or may be included in a different box shown in the figures or in adifferent box not shown.

Memory 520 may be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physicalstorage device that stores executable instructions. Thus, memory 520 maybe, for example, Random Access Memory (RAM), an Electrically-ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a storage drive, an opticaldisc, and the like. Memory may be disposed within maintenance system100, as shown in FIG. 1. In this situation, the executable instructionsmay be “installed” on the system 500.

Monitoring instructions 522 stored on memory 520 may, when executed bythe processor 510, cause the processor 510 to monitor image data 540within an image forming device. For example, as discussed above, themaintenance system 500 may monitor image data 540 to determine whencolor printing fluid will be ejected by a color printhead. Based on theresults of monitoring by the maintenance system 500, the firing signalinstructions may cause the processor 510 to determine when to generatefiring signals to provide to maintenance service system 530. Themaintenance service system 530 may be part of a print engine and ejectprinting fluid into a service component. For example, the firing signalmay be based on an operating mode of the image forming device as well asthe image data 540 that is ejected by the printheads during imageforming on a print media. In addition to the operations discussed,memory 520 may include additional instructions that enable additionalsystems and operations as described herein. For example, those processesdescribed with respect to FIG. 1-4 may be performed based oninstructions stored on memory 520 or executed by processor 510 asdescribed with reference to maintenance system 500.

It will be appreciated that examples described herein can be realized inthe form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware andsoftware. Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile ornon-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like a ROM,whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as,for example, RAM, memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on anoptically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a CD,DVD, magnetic disk or magnetic tape. It will be appreciated that thestorage devices and storage media are examples of machine-readablestorage that are suitable for storing a program or programs that, whenexecuted, implement examples described herein. In various examples othernon-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be used to storeinstructions for implementation by processors as described herein.Accordingly, some examples provide a program comprising code forimplementing a system or method as claimed in any preceding claim and amachine-readable storage storing such a program.

The features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanyingclaims, abstract and drawings), and/or the operations or processes ofany method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination,except combinations where at least some of such features and/orprocesses are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanyingclaims, abstract, and drawings), may be replaced by alternative featuresserving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly statedotherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each featuredisclosed is an example of a generic series of equivalent or similarfeatures.

1. A method of ejecting maintenance printing comprising: monitoringimage data processed by an image forming device; determining activationof nozzles of printing fluid ejectors based on the image data processedby the image forming device; and altering a maintenance printing firingsignal based on a mode of the image forming device.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein a first firing signal is generated in a first detectedmode at a longer time interval than a second firing signal generated ina second detected mode.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring theimage data processed by the image forming device is performed inresponse to determining that the image forming device is operating in adepletion mode.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining that a nozzle of a color printing fluid ejector is activatedby the image data; and ejecting maintenance ink for the nozzle of thecolor printing fluid ejector in response to determining it will beactivated.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining thatthe image forming device is operating in a depletion mode wherein colorprinting fluid is reduced by up to 90% and black printing fluid isreduced by up to 20%.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the firingsignal is altered for color printing fluid ejectors to reduce colormaintenance printing fluid more than the reduction of black maintenancefluid.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising ejecting maintenanceprinting fluid into a service component based on the firing signals. 8.A maintenance system, comprising: a memory to store a set ofinstructions; and a processor to execute the set of instructions to:determine an operating mode of an image forming device; monitor imagedata processed by the image forming device; and alter a firing signalbased on the operating mode of the image forming device and themonitored image data.
 9. The maintenance system claim 8, wherein theimage forming device is operable in a standard mode, a high-qualitymode, and a depletion mode.
 10. The maintenance system of claim 8,wherein the processor is further to: generate a user interface toreceive user input; and update the operating mode based on a receiveduser input.
 11. The maintenance system of claim 8, wherein the processoris further to alter the firing signal in a first operating mode to firefor a longer time interval than a second operating mode.
 12. The imageforming device of claim 8, wherein the processor is to monitor the imagedata processed by the image forming device in response to determiningthat the image forming device is operating in a depletion mode.
 13. Theimage forming device of claim 8, wherein the image forming devicefurther comprises a service component and the processor is further tocause the image forming device to eject maintenance printing fluid intothe service component of the image forming device based on the firingsignal.
 14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprisinga set of instructions executable by a processor to: determine that theimage forming device is set to operate in a depletion mode, wherein thedepletion mode reduces an amount of color printing fluid ejected to forman image; monitor image data processed by the image forming device inresponse to the image forming device operating in a depletion mode; andalter a maintenance firing signal for a printing fluid ejector of theimage forming device based on a utilization of the printing fluidejector in the monitored image data.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructionsfurther cause the processor to operate in the depletion mode by reducingcolor printing fluid to print a page by 70-90%.